


Other Half

by Kemrys



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/F, Hosie, Neither of the Twins Is Dead Though, This Doesn't Paint Ric In the Best Light, Yes... Again, feedback would be appreciated, i don't know where i'm going with this, or evil, pinterest prompt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:07:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 15,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25560310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kemrys/pseuds/Kemrys
Summary: Prompt:Every person is born with a twin. One is evil and one is good. Your twin died at birth; the government isn't sure which one you are. They make their best guess and send you to one of the territories when you turn sixteen. They choose wrong; how do you proceed?
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Jade & Josie Saltzman, Josie Saltzman & Lizzie Saltzman
Comments: 104
Kudos: 276





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This might just get dark.

"Josie, are you ready to go?"

I looked away from the window and turned my attention toward the person standing at the doorway of my room. Or, was it not mine anymore? "I... Don't know Henry."

Henry has been with our family for nearly a decade. My father, Alaric Saltzman 'rescued' him from his parents, a pair of werewolves that tried to go off the grid to protect both their children.

I don't know why, but almost twenty years ago the _Twin Era,_ as Aunt Bonnie mockingly calls it, began. Each child born had a twin. One of them is supposedly good, while the other is evil. The government decided to separate the twins and place them in rehabilitation facilities at first. It didn't work, so rehabilitation centers evolved into juvenile detention centers, and then prisons for 'evil' kids. Nobody called them that of course, at least not in front of government workers. The 'good' ones were released back to their families after a month or two and trained to fulfill their duties as lawful citizens. The 'evil' ones... Nobody knew what happened to them exactly. None of them were ever released.

Henry's parents got caught escaping the country. My father made sure that they were charged for treason. Henry's evil twin was locked away somewhere, and he came to live with us. My father made sure that I knew that the boy wasn't my brother as soon as I was old enough to understand. It didn't stop me from treating him like one though.

"It will be alright Jo," He swallowed nervously and I smiled at him.

"Yeah," I agreed with him, not wanting to argue. "I'm assuming father is still out of town?"

Henry nodded. "Don't be too hard on him. You know today is a difficult day for him."

My eyes must've hardened because he looked away and started fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt. Yes, today was difficult for my father, but it wasn't easy on me either. Today is my sixteenth birthday. It's Elizabeth's too.

Exactly sixteen years ago today, my birth mother, Josette Laughlin gave birth to us. After that, she took my sister and disappeared off the face of the Earth. I'm not sure how she was able to do that, and I'm not sure why she did it. All I know for sure is that nobody saw them since then.

My aunt Bonnie once said that my mother must've seen the touch of madness in my father's eyes when he discussed his most prominent achievement - the rehabilitation centers. After my uncle Kai unsuccessfully attacked my mother at her wedding, my father threw himself into research. In the end, uncle Kai ended up in a prison world. Father was proud of that. When the Twin Era began he wanted to recreate his success on a mass scale, but creating thousands of prison worlds is not sustainable. And so the centers came to be. Strings were pulled to make sure that supernaturals had their own territories.

Because mother ran only hours after out birth, nobody could identify if I was the evil twin or the good one. Father searched for Elizabeth to compare us without success. A month ago the U.S. government decided to send me off to Center 222014. I didn't know what the number meant. The adults sometimes knew the meanings of those, but father hasn't returned home in weeks, so I couldn't ask him. As adolescents, Henry and I weren't privy to that information. And the other adults in my life were either very busy in the last few days or were actively avoiding me.

"Everything will be alright," Henry repeated. I nodded, a fake smile sliding into place.

He escorted me to the nondescript black car waiting for me near the gates of the mansion.


	2. Chapter 2

"Turn right please."

I followed the order and heard a click of the camera immediately afterward. A flash of light followed half a second later.

"Left now."

I moved and tried not to stare at the wallpaper by my side. You know which type it is, the type they use for mugshots, the one that shows my height with the words Wanted By Police above.

Guess that means I know which center I'm being sent to now.

"Alright, you're done." The man who took my mugshot turned off the camera and put it away. "Let's go."

I silently followed him out of the room and into a dark corridor. We walked for a while, going through metal detectors twice before we finally left the building and came outside.

I could tell we attracted a lot of attention. Unwanted attention, if I was reading him correctly.

A blond girl jogged up to us.

"That her Mr. Williams?" She asked quietly, not looking him in the eyes.

"Yes," The man next to me cleared his throat and awkwardly patted me on the back. "I have to go. Take care of Josette, Jade."

The girl, Jade apparently, nodded. We watched as Mr. Williams walked away for a minute before she smiled and thrust her hand out. "Right, I know he technically introduced us already, but let's do this again. Hi, I'm Jade Webster and I'm your guide around this hellhole."

I tentatively shook her hand. "Josie Saltzman."

"Saltzman, huh," She frowned and I fought the urge to as well, "Guess nobody is exempt."

I waited for her to spew some hateful complaints about my father. At least half of my generation had something to say about him after all. Instead, she shook her head and a small smile reappeared on her face.

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Josie."

"Nice to meet you too." I couldn't remember the last time I spoke to somebody my age, not counting Henry.

She took my hand and started walking. "So this is the yard, obviously. You just came from the faculty building. Typically nobody under the age of twenty is allowed there, registry being the exception."

I glanced at the building behind me again. It was as dark and imposing as it was when I first saw it getting out of the car. I turned my attention back to Jade.

"That is our wing. Each of us has a small ce- room." She gestured to the building on the other side of the yard. It was smaller than the one behind us, but its grey walls seemed just as gloomy.

"How small is small?" I asked with a frown. While I wasn't claustrophobic, I didn't do too well with small spaces.

"I don't know, fifteen by fifteen feet?" She shrugged.

"That doesn't sound too bad." I smiled.

"Wait until you have to spend hours there with nothing to do," And there goes that smile. "Anyways, did Mr. Williams tell you your room number?"

"He did," I wracked my brain for the number, "Four hundred and four."

Jade's eyebrows climbed up as her eyes widened.

"What is that bad?" I asked, confused by her reaction.

"Um, no, sorry, I was just surprised," She mumbled with her cheeks reddening. "Witches are usually on the second floor, I expected you to have a room there, not on the fourth. You are a witch, right? That's not just a rumor?"

"I..." How do I answer that? Were siphoners common knowledge? "...Am, yeah."

"Okay," She eyed me nervously, "Anyways, werewolves tend to have rooms on the first floor. Witches on the second, as I told you, and vampires on the third."

"And who is on the fourth floor?" I tried to ignore how speciesism the whole order seemed.

"As far as anybody knows, only the most dangerous people are placed there."

"Oh." Well, that was frank.

"I know a few people from there, only by reputation." She fiddled with her fingers. "Alyssa Chang, she's a witch like you. They say that she burned her entire family alive."

"What?"

"Yep, that's probably just gossip though. The stories get crazier and crazier every year." She smiled reassuringly at me.

I gestured for her to continue.

"Then there's Diego. He's a werewolf, slaughtered some high schoolers, and enjoyed it."

"Rumors again?"

"Nope." Jade winced. "I used to be friends with his sister, Wendy. He tried to pin the whole thing on her, but it didn't work out, thank god. She still visits him here sometimes."

I stared at her in horrified fascination.

She pretended not to notice.

"Then there's Ryan Clarke. Nobody knows what his deal is. The only thing the adults know for sure is that he can't be compelled. They think he's a witch who locked away his power, but because they don't know, they put him on the fourth floor."

"Okay." So not all the people I'm going to be surrounded with are super scary. Good to know.

"And last but not least, there's Hope Mikaelson."

The surname sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Jade must've seen my conflicted expression because she elaborated. "You know, the daughter of the guy your dad dubbed the Great Evil, the Original Hybrid, Klaus Mikaelson. They say your old man singlehandedly kidnapped her to keep the Mikaelsons in check. She's the only one of her kind, a tribrid - a witch, a werewolf, and a vampire. She might want to take revenge on you for what your father did, so I'd sleep with an eye open if I were you."

Oh, fuck my life.


	3. Chapter 3

My new room isn't that bad. The walls are light grey. Every piece of furniture (a bed, a desk, and a single chair) is black. The floor and the ceiling are white. The clock that was located near the tiny window was dark grey. The only splash of color in the room is the bedsheets, those are dark green. And my clothes I suppose. We are allowed to keep clothes we own to save the center money on uniforms.

Jade left as soon as she showed me where it was. My new friend wanted to visit the library while she could. Apparently, kids were allowed to leave their rooms from eight in the morning to eight in the evening every day but were expected to not be out too much. Breakfast was served at nine outside, at the picnic tables. Lunch was at one o'clock and dinner was at six.

I arrived here at about twelve but the registration took at least half an hour. I had thirty more minutes before lunch.

Jade was right. It was ridiculously boring staying in my room with nothing to do, so I decided to explore.

The fourth floor was not that different from the others. Even-numbered rooms were occupied by girls and were on the right side of the hallway. Odd-numbered rooms held boys across the hall from girls. That was the pattern for all the floors.

The library that Jade mentioned was in the attic or the unofficial fifth floor. It was dusty and hot in there, which was probably why it was so unused. I waved at Jade and descended the stairs. I didn't want to invade somebody's space, so I didn't stop at any of the floors and went right outside.

I sat at a picnic table for a few minutes, just enjoying the sun before a horn sounded and kids started to come out of the building to join those that were already outside. I was a bit shocked at how young or old some seemed. There was a boy who couldn't have been more than ten, and a girl that seemed to be seven or eight years old. Another guy looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties, his curly hair making him look younger than he probably was. A dark-haired girl who seemed to be my age winked when she saw me staring. I looked away sheepishly.

"Hey, new girl!" My attention was captured by a guy sitting at a table next to mine. "Want to settle an argument?"

I raised an eyebrow but walked over. "What's up?" I asked trying not to sound nervous.

"This doofus-"

"Raf. My name is Raf."

"As I said, this doofus got into a fight with another inmate 'bout a week ago, lost, and has been in solitary until like an hour ago. He keeps insisting that the other guy stole a photo from him-

"He did, alright?" Raf scowled at his friend.

"Whatever. But that guy lives on the fourth floor. Now Raf here wants to fight him again. What do you think, is it worth it?"

"Kaleb, she just got here like an hour ago, leave her alone." A blond girl at the end of the table rolled her eyes. "Probably doesn't even know what the fourth floor means."

Josie tried not to smirk. "They put me on the fourth floor."

It was as if time froze. Nobody at the table had anything to say.

"They did?" Kaleb's voice was a notch higher than it used to be. "Damn, I'm sorry, guess that was pretty rude of me."

The blonde sighed and shook her head. "Sorry about this moron. He doesn't think before he talks."

"Now, wait just a minute! How was I supposed to know that-"

"I don't have neither the time nor the crayons to explain the process of thinking to you." The girl snarked before turning to look at me again. "Hi. I'm Lizzie. Pleased to meet you."

I glanced up and down her body, taking in her form. It was defensive, but I could tell that it was unintentional. She was wearing a pair of old sneakers, a pair of ripped jeans and a white T-shirt with a Grumpy Cat picture on it. There was something familiar about the way sunlight hit her golden hair and the way her blue eyes dissected my every move.

"Josie. Josie Saltzman."

"Cool," She smiled politely before gesturing to the table, "Want to sit with us, Josie Saltzman?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Damn what'd you do to piss Mikaelson off this much?" Kaleb's voice distracted me from the food that magically appeared on the table in front of me.

I followed his gaze onto an auburn-haired that was sitting at a table in the shade from the faculty building. A guy was sitting at the table with her, talking to her, but she seemed to be ignoring him in order to glare in our direction.

"We got into another, uh, verbal clash this morning." Lizzie shrugged carelessly.

Kaleb groaned.

"Another one?" He exhaled in frustration. "What do you guys even have to fight about? You don't freaking know each other!"

"We know enough about each other to acknowledge each other's might and contend for the mantle of HBIC."

"Why are you like this?" Kaleb whined dramatically. I hid my laugh behind a fake cough. "Raf's a werewolf and he's not like this. They _actually_ have to fight for leadership."

"Hey man, leave me out of it." Raf was fighting a smile too.

"I don't have to be a werewolf to be a leader! And Hope is a wolf, so I have to get her some competition. Not like she's gonna any from this guy," The blonde playfully punched Raf on the shoulder. "Or Jed. Or Louis. Hell, even Diego wouldn't stand half a chance against her."

"And you do?" Kaleb asked skeptically.

"Sure I do," Lizzie grinned, "In fact, I'm going to go talk to her right now."

And she walked away, toward the tribrid. I stared after her in concern, remembering Jade's warning.

"Lizzie's got a need for control," Raf said quietly, noticing me staring, "Stems from her childhood-"

"Should you be telling me this?" I interrupted, a bit uncomfortable at the concept of learning private information about the blond girl without her consent.

"She doesn't hide it," The werewolf shrugged, "Wears it like a badge of honor."

"Okay," I whispered. That doesn't really make it that much better.

"So, uh, the authorities picked her up from an orphanage in Portland when she was five or six years old. She doesn't remember anything from before that place," Raf sighed. "Once, she said to me that because she couldn't control her past memories, she would try to make unique future memories so that they would be hard to forget. Not a lot unique stuff going on here, so I guess she makes the best of the situation with Mikaelson."

"C'mon man." Kaleb shook his head.

"What?"

"You gonna tell her my life story too?" Kaleb asked and laughed when Raf's expression dropped. "Kidding bro, free speech and all that."

Raf rolled his eyes. "Stop being an asshole."

"Never, anyway, I'll tell her myself." Kaleb shook his head with a smile. "So, my brother Milton and I were actually born before this whole twin baby boom thing began. We both got turned about five years ago. With our super senses, it wasn't hard to tell that somebody was monitoring us. Straight up following us."

"Sounds illegal." I scowled.

"When does it ever matter?" The vampire smirked ruefully. "Anyway, to add to the stress we found out that Milton is a ripper."

"You've got to be kidding me." I shook my head, forlorn about their unfortunate luck.

"Nope," Kaleb smiled and continued his story, "So Milton started drinking animal blood, and I took the fall. I was lucky nobody wanted to kill me, so they decided to leave me in this place."

"Even if you're not supposedly destined to be evil?" I asked, remembering his comment about his age.

Kaleb shrugged. "Same with my boy Rafael here. Accidentally crashed his car, which killed his girlfriend and activated his curse. That alone got his sister a pass to the good place. His foster brother visits him every other week. She doesn't."

"So what's your story?" A familiar voice sounded from behind me, and I turned to see that Lizzie came back.

"My mother ran away with my twin hours after we were born, nobody could tell which one I am, so the government decided this is where I should be from my sixteenth birthday and onwards."

"That sucks," Raf murmured at the same time ask as Lizzie blinked in excitement.

"It's your birthday?"

"Yeah." I nodded, fighting the urge to smile at how happy she seemed about that simple fact.

"Alright!" She threw a hand around my shoulders and I was surprised by how much I didn't hate it being there. "We might not be allowed to throw parties here, but I'll make sure that this day is memorable for you!" 


	5. Chapter 5

And boy, did she keep her promise. In a span of a few seconds, I had a chocolate cupcake gently shoved into my hand and a feast before me on the picnic table. Lizzie was already chattering about how after lunch we'd turn my room into a more livable space.

I bit into a cupcake and immediately fought the urge to spit it out.

"What the hell?" I asked with a half-full mouth. The cupcake was burning my mouth. I know that some people like hot flavors of food, but cupcakes? Really?

"Oh," Lizzie stopped talking, frowning at my displeased expression, "I forgot to warn you, food and drinks are laced with minuscule amounts of lobelia, wolfsbane, and vervain."

I stared at the cupcake in sorrow. Who would dare? What's next? Hot ice cream? Milk? Water?

"Not enough to scar you, but enough to keep supernatural powers at bay for a few hours," Kaleb nodded, "Some masochists actually like it, but sucks to be you if you don't like spicy food." 

I didn't particularly like it, but I wasn't that against it either. Usually.

"I don't like spicy cupcakes!" I threw my hands up.

"Mood," Raf snorted.

"There, there," Lizzie patted me on the back, "What foods _do_ you like hot?"

I ended up eating a grilled cheese, a small packet of taquitos, and some fried rice. Not that bad, but eating healthy here already starts to sound like a challenge.

After lunch, Lizzie and I went to my room, while Rafael and Kaleb chose to stay outside. We put my favorite and most worn clothes in the desk drawers, since we didn't have wardrobes, and pushed my suitcase under the bed, before heading to the library. Lizzie helped me find my favorite authors and choose books to take with me to my room. She whined a bit about carrying a ton of books downstairs but seemed to forget that she willingly picked more up than I did to make my day better.

Before we knew it, hours passed and it was already five o'clock.

"As much as I like spending time with you Jo, I got to go see a b-witch about a thing," Lizzie declared after noticing the time.

"Well, that's not suspicious at all," I joked with a relaxed smile, "Go, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Have a good night, birthday girl." She smiled softly at me before disappearing.

I stacked away the rest of the books onto my desk with a smile before collapsing on the bed. As sucky as some parts of my day were (saying goodbye to Henry, laced food, etc.) this was the best birthday I had in a really long time.

Suddenly I heard a clear knock.

It took me a moment to realize that it has been against my door.

"Come in," I called, too lazy to get up and open the door myself. It's not like there are locks on the door anyway.

The door creaked open.

A pair of beautiful blue eyes peered into my soul.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey."

"Hello," I replied cautiously, not taking my eyes off the other girl as I pulled myself up to sit against the headboard.

What is she doing here? I thought I was in the clear 'cause she didn't approach me at lunch and Lizzie and I skipped dinner.

My eyes flickered down to her hands, searching for weapons. She didn't seem to have any. Her fists weren't clenched. That's a good sign, right? Then again, she might not need weapons to incapacitate someone. She could probably strangle me without too much trouble.

My cheeks flushed at the thought, and I fought the urge to close my eyes.

Damnit, so not the time for that.

"I wanted to have a chat with you, Saltzman." The tribrid leaned against the wall casually.

I blinked. Could you be just a tad more clear? Perhaps before I have a heart attack?

"To be quite frank, at least half of the inmates here expect me to do something about your presence," I could tell by the way her eyes flashed that _something_ wasn't anything good. "And to be quite honest I don't give a shit about their expectations."

"Why?" My voice was raspy. "I didn't do anything to them."

"It's not what you didn't do that angers them," She shook her head before pointing out the obvious, "It's what your father did."

I sighed. "And you aren't angry?" I found that very difficult to believe.

"Oh, I'm angry, but I'm not going to take it out on you, newbie." She smirked and a shiver ran down my spine. "Just about every single witch in New Orleans tried to kill me for my father's sins. Numerous vampires and werewolves tried to as well. You think I'd do the same thing to you?"

I contemplated the question as I took her in.

Then, I slowly shook my head.

"Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others." She quoted. I knew the phrase, but couldn't remember from where. "Otto von Bismarck."

The name didn't ring a bell.

"So you don't have anything to fear from me, as long as you don't cross me," She warned.

Fair enough. "I won't," I swore.

"Alright, be careful with the sheeple," She bounced off the wall and took a step towards the door. Without turning around she said, "Oh, and happy birthday Saltzman."

And then she was gone.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself down. It didn't work for a while.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey Josie, what do you like to do?" Lizzie asked from the middle of my room.

I'd taken to hanging out with Lizzie, Raf, And Kaleb inside of my room after hearing Hope's warning. It's March - a bit chilly anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to edge on the careful side for a while. So, Lizzie and I were reading books in my room. The lighting was better in all of the fourth floor's cells to make it difficult for their occupants to hide anything from adults. The blonde claimed the spot right under the bulb in the middle of my room. Sitting on the floor apparently didn't bother her.

I didn't care about the lighting that much, so I was reading on my bed.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, looking up from my book.

"Well," Lizzie put hers down. "A lot of people here get small jobs to pass the time and gain special privileges."

"Jobs like showing new people around?" I asked, remembering Jade's kindness.

"Sure, Jade, Penelope, and I do those," Lizzie nodded. "But there are other types that pay differently and fit other people better."

"Tell me about them?" I requested hesitantly as I put my book down beside me.

Lizzie nodded with a small smile. "Like with my job they pay with furniture and stuff for your room. After each tour, you can request that an administrator to take you to the storage room in the faculty building and you can pick out one item to take. There's all sorts of stuff in there: shelves, clothing racks, posters, mirrors, calendars, pretty clocks..." She glared at the one at my wall.

"That sounds cool. And practical," I glanced around my bare walls. "Rewarding work, that it."

"Yeah," Lizzie glared at the clock even harder.

I wonder what it did to her.

She must've noticed my confused expression because her gaze softened. "Sorry, Jo. I'm just thinking about one person who gets to have all the stuff she wants without working for it at all."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Hope Mikaelson," she sighed, and I inhaled sharply. "They treat her oddly, you know? I heard she has everything she could ever want in her room. Canvases, paint, electronics, you name it. The adults are afraid of what would happen if she ever got out of control, so they try to keep her placated. Like, they even allow video calls to her family. Like what the fuck, what kind of kidnapper allows a kidnappee anything they want?"

I snorted, holding back a laugh at her frustration.

"Anyway, I got off-topic," She shook her head, "The other types of jobs pay you with real money. You can save it or give it to somebody who visits you or whatever. They can buy something for you and let it go through various checkups before it gets to you. You can also shop online with adult supervision, to make sure that you don't contact anyone or otherwise use their Wi-Fi in forbidden ways."

"Kay," I nodded, "So what do people do to earn money?"

"You could cook meals, eight bucks each, recipes and directions are provided," Lizzie put a finger out, starting counting. "You can help out with the paperwork in the faculty building, that's ten dollars per hour. You can run the laundry for ten bucks an hour too. Then there's regular cleaning, like picking up trash outside, and whatever for twelve bucks I think. And finally, cleaning the library eighteen dollars per hour."

"Why so much?"

"Cause it sucks to do it most of the time," She shrugged before elaborating, "If you try to do it in the winter, you would freeze your ass off. If you try to do it in the summer you'd be boiled alive in your own sweat. Heating and conditioners barely work in our rooms, and it's not connected to the attic."

"Ah." Was my ever so eloquent response.

"So, what do you think? Want to be a tour guide with me?" Lizzie let me get hit with the full power of her puppy eyes.

"Hmm," I rubbed my chin in deep thought, "Can you have two jobs at once?"

"Absolutely," Lizzie grinned. "What are you thinking? Please don't say cleaning though, I don't do trash."

"We'll see." I shrugged.


	8. Chapter 8

I ended up taking two jobs like I expected to and devoted about two days to each, every week. Mondays turned into me days. Nobody in the world could convince me to work on that cursed day of the week. I made sure that the center was spotless on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I took Thursdays and Fridays off to socialize or just rest and spent the weekends cleaning the library. Spring was the perfect time to do it; the weather wasn't too cold already and not yet unbearably hot.

I wouldn't have minded being a tour guide like Lizzie suggested, but nobody new was admitted since I joined, so I decided not to worry about it.

The routine helped me adjust more than I'd like to admit. There's something cathartic about having any type of control in my life.

"Josette," Mr. Williams greeted me before handing me a checklist of all the things I needed to do, "Not much work today, but this should keep you busy for a couple of hours. Come back when you finish."

"Give me one too, please," A voice requested from behind me. I tensed up because I recognized. The reflection of the window of the faculty building in front of me confirmed my suspicions.

"I thought you said you didn't want to do this again Hope?" The administrator questioned the tribrid but dutifully passed her her paper.

"What are you talking about? I love trash," Hope smiled unconvincingly as she came to stand beside me, "As of this moment."

I took a step back and quietly went to get a trash picker. The only ones they give us are the ones whose handles you have to squeeze so that the claws close. They didn't hand out the sharp ones with which you stab the trash. I suppose that's smart of them.

"Wait up Saltzman!" Hope called after me. I slowed my pace but didn't stop. I grabbed a trash bag.

"Call me Josie," I demanded before turning to look at her. "What did he mean by you didn't want to do this _again_?"

"Sounds pretty self-explanatory, Josie." Her blue eyes twinkled frustratingly.

I got the feeling that she liked to annoy me.

Too bad for her I didn't like amusing immature teenagers. I rolled my eyes and started to pick up the trash, no longer paying her any attention.

"Fine," Suddenly she was walking beside me, swinging her stick childishly with seemingly no intentions to clean. "I'll tell you about that if you tell me what your dad told you about me. And my family."

I glanced at her. "Fine."

"Okay." She twirled her stick in her hands gracefully before turning to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I never heard anything about you before I came here. Not from him, not from anybody. I didn't know you existed." I didn't know if the answer would satisfy her, but it would have to do. It's the truth after all. "He told me that your father was the second most evil person that he's ever met. According to him, your uncle tries to be noble but regularly fails at it, and your aunt is more dangerous than she looks."

"Hmm," Her eyes flashed dangerously and I knew that she believed me.

I looked away. I didn't know why she wanted to know this. It's not like the information was helpful in any way. Perhaps it was even hurtful.

I didn't bother using the stick and just kicked an empty Coke bottle into the bag.

After a minute of silence, the tribrid started talking. "I didn't sleep well when I first got here."

I blinked but didn't say anything.

"I paced a lot and the noise unsettled the people in cells next to mine," The corners of her lips twitched down. "They offered me a stick like this one and told me I could work at night and then sleep in the afternoons. I guess that was so that everybody wasn't so afraid of me. A shut-in isn't that scary."

"And you took the job." I guessed.

"Yeah," Hope shrugged, "Used the money to get some stuff for me."

Probably the canvases and paint that Lizzie mentioned.

"I stopped having problems falling asleep and I had enough possessions to entertain me after that, so I quit." Hope scowled. "Some people here work so that they can hand their money to their visitors, but nobody can visit me on the off chance that my family finds out about it, so I figured what's the point?"

I felt sorry for her, but Hope didn't seem like the type of person to appreciate condolences, so I didn't bother.

"So why are you doing this again?" I turned my head to look at her as we walked.

Her eyes widened slightly and she used her trash stick to clasp... My leg. What the heck?

I glanced down to see that I almost stepped on a half-full pudding cup. She gently pulled the stick and made sure that my foot didn't land on it. I tried not to think about how unhygienic it is to use a trash pickup stick in this way. Then again, it's not like Hope actually picked up any trash today. And the stick looked relatively clean.

"Thanks," I muttered sheepishly.

"You're welcome," She nodded, "And as for your previous question, that's for me to know and for you to find out. Maybe."


	9. Chapter 9

With both of us working quietly after our conversation, we were able to finish the clean up just before lunch. We walked towards Mr. Williams and got our payments from the stoic man.

After that, Hope glanced up at the rapidly darkening clouds, frowned, and bid me goodbye.

I, once again, joined Lizzie, Raf, and Kaleb at their picnic table.

"Are we going to get drenched?" I asked before I even sat down.

"Nah," Kaleb shook his head, "Ever read the Percy Jackson books?"

"Yes," I admitted. I've read all of Rick Riordan's books except for the Trials of Apollo series. Mythology was a bit of an obsession for me a couple of years ago. "Why?"

"This place got a barrier around it, like a mix of the one from the camp and a fucked up Fidelius charm from Harry Potter."

"Why is it, uh, messed up?"

Kaleb smirked at my unwillingness to curse but explained, "You can't find this place without somebody telling you about it, like in canon, but the witches couldn't replicate the Secret Keeper aspect of it; you can get in if anybody who's ever been inside told you about this place."

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Raf piped up.

"They're nerding out, leave them be," Lizzie murmured without looking up from the pages her book. It was a dark tome that didn't look out of place on the table with the poisoned food.

"Ironic, coming from a girl who's reading," Kaleb snorted. He extended his arm to ruffle the blonde's hair but she ducked out of his reach.

"Oh, so you've noticed, have you!" Lizzie deadpanned, "I was wondering when your supposedly superior vampire eyesight would catch on."

"Alright, relax you two!" Raf grinned, "Rain wouldn't touch us, but I still want to get inside as soon as possible." He addressed me before he started shoveling food onto his plate.

Perhaps his car crash occurred on a day with bad weather.

"Statistically, vampires and werewolves almost always feel uneasy during severe weather, while witches tend to feel right at home," Lizzie smirked at me, "Guess that means that we're the brave ones today."

I smiled back at her and grabbed a slice of pizza.

It had started raining soon after that. I watched in fascination as countless drops bounced off the dome that surrounded the area before merging into streams that shot off to the side, somewhere I could not see. It was odd to watch. As if we were under a waterfall.

Kaleb, Raf, and countless others in the yard started to act nervous after the water appeared, so our small group adjourned. I don't know about the others, but I went straight to my room and took a long nap. Clutching a stick while walking may not sound too tiring, but I was a bit drowsy. The sound of the rain didn't help.

I woke up due to a knock on the door to my room. I let out a groan that I hoped sounded like an invitation to the person on the other side of it.

The door opened and Hope Mikaelson's blue eyes stared at me again.

Whoa.

What a sense of déjà vu.


	10. Chapter 10

"Could you please distract me, Josie?" She asked quietly, just before thunder boomed outside.

"Sure," I agreed, confusion in my voice, "From what?"

Hope sighed. "Anyone ever tell you that vampires don't like to swim?"

"Yes," I vaguely remembered dad telling me that fact when I was seven or eight years old.

"Vampires, and werewolves for that matter, don't enjoy being in large bodies of water or in natural disasters that involve it," She began explaining timidly, "because some, no, most, witches have the ability to control them."

"Not all witches exercise that ability though," I pointed out.

"I know, trust me, I know," She groaned self-deprecatingly, "I told that to myself a thousand times. However, my instincts can't seem to accept logical arguments. It's like being afraid of being struck by lightning, or bitten by a shark. The logistics don't make you any less jittery."

"Why aren't the administrators doing anything to keep you calm?" I frowned.

"Usually, they would, but at least half of the kids in the building have that problem right now," She shrugged before gingerly sitting down on the edge of my bed. "They don't care about me pacing today and keeping some people up, because tomorrow just about every vampire and werewolf is going to look like a zombie from the lack of sleep."

"Ah," I made a face. Just because more than one teenager has a problem that's difficult to take care of, doesn't mean the adults should just ignore it.

A flash of lightning brightened the room for a second. Hope flinched.

"Right," I shook my head, "Is there anything, in particular, you want to talk about?" I questioned her awkwardly.

"No," She smiled before leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes. "Just tell me something about your life."

"It's not that interesting," I protested half-heartedly.

"I sincerely doubt that," She muttered.

"It isn't," I insisted, but started talking nevertheless. I told her about my boring life in the Saltzman household, about how I seldom left it before the men in black suits took me here. I told the tribrid about Henry and my aunt Bonnie who took us on a couple of adventures around town when father was out of town and she was watching us. I mentioned wanting to be a doctor when I was a kid, and later on, a pediatrician. I explained my perpetual desire to meet my twin. I told her about Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore who only visited every other year on my father's birthday and didn't really leave his study at those times. I even told her about the time I accidentally set the curtains in my room on fire a couple of years ago.

It was odd how easy it was for me to talk to her. Normally I'm the quietest person in the room, but it was like her presence made me bolder. I didn't mind sharing secrets that I never told anybody with her.

By the time I ran out of things to say she was already asleep.

The corners of my lips twitched up involuntarily as I tried to cover her with a blanket. She curled up on top of it, and I didn't dare to move her, so I just folded the part she wasn't touching over her.

I wish I was brave to lay down next to her and go to sleep, but I wasn't, so grabbed a book, sat down against the wall, and started reading. I already slept earlier so I'd be fine for a while. I might be a bit tired tomorrow evening, but then again, I always am.

I read _Homegoing_ for about three and a half hours before I was interrupted. Somebody knocked on the door to my room.

I quickly got up and opened it, not wanting to wake up the girl who laid passed out on my bed. The person who knocked turned out to be a young guard with blond hair and dark circles under his brown eyes.

He glanced at Hope nervously but didn't attempt to do anything about her being there.

"You have a visitor, Ms. Saltzman," He whispered in a gruff voice, "Please follow me if you want to see them."

I frowned as I thought about who'd want to visit me at this hour. I carefully placed my book on my desk and followed the guard.


	11. Chapter 11

"Josie."

The man sitting in front of me looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. The dark circles under his eyes were making him look like a raccoon. The wild and greying hair didn't help that image.

"Dad," I whispered. "How are you?"

He blinked as if he hadn't understood the question before answering it. "I'm fine, just flew in from Paris, actually."

Well, that explains the odd timing of his visit. It can't be later than five in the morning.

"One of my associates found a lead on your sister," He smiled weakly at me, "It's not very promising, a couple of years old, but I'm flying out to Portland first thing in the morning."

What was it about that sentence that bugged me?

I narrowed my eyes but didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry that you're here Josie," He glanced around the room that we were in. We sat alone at one of the tables, a sheet of glass separating us. "I couldn't overturn the decision when I heard about it."

I tilted my head slightly when I heard his particular wording. He didn't seem to notice.

"It's fine." I shrugged.

"It is most definitely not fine," My father smirked at my nonchalance, "But then again, if you weren't sent here, there are only two other centers for supernaturals, in Belgium and England. And you never did like waffles or tea, did you?"

I glared at him, unimpressed with the stereotyping.

"This center is the oldest," He tapped his side of the table with a fond smile, "I helped build it from the ground up."

As if that's something to be proud of.

"I... It's close to our family home, so I hoped that it would make the community safer," He closed his eyes, reminiscing, "You know, if they're scared of consequences, maybe they'd just be good."

I stared at the old man in front of me in disgust. I wish I could say that I didn't recognize what he'd become, but he has always been this thoughtless pisher who pushed his opinions onto anyone who'd listen.

"Fear only makes people react rashly," I finally replied after a minute of silence.

"I know, I know," He whispered, his eyes glazing over, "I know that better than anyone."

Oh, he must be thinking about my mother then. Perhaps if he hadn't scared her that much she never would've left. Never would've taken Elizabeth anywhere.

"And how are you darling?" He smiled at me and I could almost pretend that he cared. "Are you eating enough?"

"Oh, you know, when I want to be thoroughly poisoned I do." I smiled sarcastically at him.

"Now Josette, don't be difficult," His expression darkened and my fists clenched under the table. "I should be back by next week, with your sister if luck is on my side."

Ah, there it was. He was still hoping that he could be a father to a virtuous, altruistic princess that didn't know him. I couldn't be that person, so he was looking for a replacement. I wonder when he gave up on me. I think it was around my seventh birthday. His trips started increasing then. While he traveled before, looking for them, our family, he still tried to be a father to me when I was a child. Guess I wasn't enough.

For a moment I was glad that the glass separated, so I wouldn't have to hug him goodbye.

My father gave me one last nod and sauntered out of the room.

I was escorted back to my room by the same guard that took me here.

I quietly closed the door to my room and leaned against it. That meeting took a lot more out of me than I expected.

"You alright Josie?"

I jumped up a bit at the husky voice coming from the corner of the room.

"Yeah," I smiled at her, not wanting to lie, "My dad just visited."

Her brows furrowed. "What kind of person visits prison before the sun has even risen?"

Prison. Right, because that's what this place was, without the pretty words to hide that.

"The kind who travels a lot," I shrugged, not wanting to talk about him.

She squinted at me. "Did you get any sleep at all tonight, Jo?"

I looked away.

"Get some rest," She smiled, getting up from the bed, "I'll see you in a couple of hours, I guess."

I walked over to my bed robotically while she left the room, before collapsing onto it dramatically. Sleep claimed me soon after that.


	12. Chapter 12

"You all look like crap," Lizzie greeted us the next morning at breakfast, before turning to look at me, "What's up with you?"

I grunted as I sat down on the bench before laying my arms on the table, burying my head in them, and closing my eyes. "My dad visited last night." My voice was a little muffled but she should have no trouble understanding it.

"Ah," She sighed sympathetically and didn't ask any more questions.

"Eat something," Raf advised in a rough voice, "Or you'd probably feel even worse in a couple of hours."

I smiled weakly at him but reached for the bacon.

Kaleb passed me the plate with scrambled eggs. I took it, dumped a chunk of it on my plate, and started eating.

The rest of the morning was quiet. I knew that it was Wednesday, but I decided to slack off. I was too tired for labor right now, and it wasn't like I really needed anything at the moment.

I chose to take a day off.

I was just finishing my book when Lizzie burst into my room, looking frazzled.

I stared at her as she caught her breath and leaned on the wall near the door.

"Raf got into a fight," She gasped out and I shot up from my bed, "He's in the infirmary."

"Where the hell is the infirmary?" I frowned trying to remember Jade's tour. "And who did he get into a fight with?"

"It's in the basement of the administration building," The blonde shook her head in frustration, "We won't be allowed in there. And it was with that Clarke guy. I told him that his damn photo wasn't worth it, but he didn't listen!"

"What?" I blinked in confusion.

"A few weeks ago, Ryan Clarke stole the photo Raf had of him and his foster brother, Landon, who happened to be Clarke's twin." Lizzie started explaining and pacing around my room. "They got into a fight, but the adults handled it. Raf was in solitary until the day you came around, which is also in the admin building."

"And now he got into a fight with this Ryan guy again?" 

"Yeah, probably because he was irritated due to the lack of sleep. It was super weird. It was like Clarke was made of clay something. Not like he healed abnormally quickly, he just looked like pink Play-Doh." Lizzie scrunched up her face in disgust. "It was like Raf would hit him, his face would mold to fit his fist, and then he'd hit Raf with his own solid fists."

What in the world? 

"Yeah, so I came here, to tell you what happened," Lizzie smiled sheepishly. "Maybe hoping that you'd be able to do something."

"Why would I be able to do anything?" My voice was a slightly higher pitch than normal due to frustration. Huh.

"You're a Saltzman," She shrugged.

"Ah," I shifted uncomfortably, "Doesn't mean anything to the guards."

"I know," She admitted with a sigh before sitting down beside me. "I just wish I could do something."

I put my arm around her hesitantly. Lizzie put her head on my shoulder.

"How bad is it?" I asked about Raf's state.

"It's bad, Josie," She started crying and my heart clenched in my chest, "It's really bad."


	13. Chapter 13

"What's wrong?" The ever-present visitor to my room asked me.

"Nothing," I grumbled out and started pacing again.

Hope stared patiently at me and waited for a different response.

"I am worried about Raf," I decided to go with a half-truth when it became apparent that she wouldn't give up.

"No," Her eyes narrowed, "I don't think that's it."

I glared at her weakly.

"You were upset about him earlier this week. Now you're acting differently. And Raf's foster brother did inform his girlfriend about the fact that the doctors told him that Raf was stable," She tilted her head, analyzing my body language. "What's going on with you?"

I huffed in frustration before plopping down on my bed beside her.

"Siphoners naturally take the magic from around them," I closed and rubbed my eyes. "I haven't done that in weeks."

"Is it hurting you?" Alarm colored the tribrid's voice.

"Not exactly," I searched for the right words, "When we take in magic, it slowly disappears. Well, maybe that's not the right word for it. It's assimilated into our bodies."

"It becomes yours," Hope guessed.

"Yes," I admitted the rather obvious fact, "But it also seeps down to our bones. It strengthens us. Not to the point of supernatural strength, but it does make us stronger. Or at least, makes us feel like we're stronger."

"And you don't feel strong right now," Her expression softened with sympathy.

"It doesn't hurt per se," I chose my words carefully, "But once you tasted that sort of power it's hard to rationalize not doing it again. It's like I'm going through withdrawal, but magic doesn't leave any traces in my body, if it did, I'd probably feel better."

She smiled at me before holding out her hand toward me. "You can take some magic from if you want to."

It couldn't be that easy. I didn't siphon from the building because there must have been preventative measures somewhere on it to restrict stuff like that.

I glanced around nervously, "Aren't there alarms to trace that?"

"I doubt it," She shrugged dismissively, "But if you want, we can do this in my room. Nobody ever comes in there, no matter what."

"Are you sure?" I asked, trying to hide my eagerness, "You could get in trouble for this. Or I could accidentally hurt you."

"Please," She smirked at me, baby blues sparkling and all, "I'm a Mikaelson."

"Alright," I bit back a smile, "Let's go."


	14. Chapter 14

I always thought that magic was magic, that once I siphoned it, it was all the same. It was not until this moment until I realized how very wrong I was.

The degree of darkness is usually measured by the spell's purpose and the caster's emotions.

There was no spell though.

There was just me sucking magic from Hope.

There was no spell, but I could feel her emotions. There's the unmistakable feeling of fondness slipping into my veins. There was a dash of excitement too. A touch of sadness that had me reaching over to enclose Hope's hand completely with my other hand.

"It's so beautiful," She whispered, examining the scarlet glow coming from my one of my hand.

I couldn't see it. The color of blood, supposedly the color of anger... Even now I'm taking something precious that isn't meant to belong to me. How is that beautiful?

It's like somebody put a powerful flashlight under the palm of my hand and turned it on.

According to many experts in magic, that glow simply isn't meant to exist.

"Is it always so noticeable?" Hope's eyes met mine, and my cheeks reddened. Ha, they must look like my hands right now.

"I..." I frowned considering the answer, "It always was when I siphoned."

I slowly lessened the amount of magic I was pulling from the tribrid and let it focus on bleeding onto my skin in one specific spot. It was still bright, but nowhere near as notable. I covered it with my hand.

"I guess not," I smiled softly at the auburn-haired girl in front of me, "Never hand the urge to experiment, and nobody ever suggested it."

She smiled back at me. "I'm glad to be your first."

I snorted and shook my head.

"Thanks for this," I squeezed her hand just a tad harder.

Her emotions changed for a moment and went back to how they were before I could decipher them. All I got was that they were... Warm.

I closed my eyes, trying to focus on them.

"Yeah," She whispered before tugging on my hands.

I cracked an eye open as she pulled me deeper into her room. She sat on the bed and tugged me onto it too. 

We were still holding hands. I was still siphoning. Perhaps it should've been weird and awkward, but the contentedness I was feeling, _we_ were feeling... 

It was everything.

"Would you tell me if I take too much?" I asked quietly, trying not to disturb that atmosphere.

"Sure," She nodded before scooting backward so that her back was leaning against the wall, "Although, I sincerely doubt that you could."

"Don't take this lightly," I warned her in a serious tone.

"I'm not," She assured me, "One of the good things about being from one of the oldest families on earth, is that I have magic to last a lifetime."

I sighed and closed my eyes again, focusing on her emotions.

How could she be so careless?

There was not a single hint of fear that I could feel from her, not a drop of apprehension or concern from herself.

The feeling of safety irritated me.

She was locked away in what was basically a concentration camp, with somebody stripping away her magic, and all she felt was safety.

Hope Mikaelson was truly an enigma.


	15. Chapter 15

I woke up curled up next to Hope. I know that I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was, but opening my eyes to find her sprawled out in front of me almost made my heart jump out of my chest.

I waited patiently until my body calmed down and then tried to fall asleep again. I didn't want to risk trying to get up to leave and making a sound that would wake the tribrid. Needless to say, it didn't work. When I wake up I tend to have a hard time getting back to sleep.

  
I sighed and starting counting imperfections on the ceiling, my mind desperate for something to do. I would count a few and then get distracted, glancing at the auburn-haired girl next to me. She looked so relaxed in her sleep, so peaceful, now that the mischievous sparkle in her eyes was hidden away. It's true what they say, there's beauty in simple things. Not that I'm saying that's she's simple. No, she's far from it.

  
I shook my head and turned away. Now is not the time for such thoughts. 

  
I was trying to make out what was on Hope's posters in the dark when I heard the first whimper. It was so quiet I almost missed it.

  
I glanced at the tribrid in concern. All the traces of her previous tranquility disappeared from her face. Now, it was scrunched up in what was probably fear. Her brow glistened with sweat. I frowned for a second. How was I so distracted that I didn't notice this obvious change?

  
I pulled myself up and rested my body's weight on my elbows, trying to take in the situation better. A single glance at the window told me that the skies were clear and that the weather was relatively good. The problem must have been personal to Hope then, a regular nightmare, perhaps her memories. The thought made upset me, but I pushed away my feelings and focused on one of the few people that I cared about in this hellhole.

  
"Papilio lux," I whispered. Magic surged out of my hands in the form of a golden butterfly. It flapped its wings a couple of times, just lingering in the air for a moment, before coming down and settling on Hope's shoulder.

  
I couldn't help but smile at the beautiful image. Soon, Hope stopped moving, peaceful sleep claiming her again. Several minutes after that, the comfort spell itself faded away, its duty fulfilled.

  
I was never so glad for my extensive knowledge of spells. I used to cast this one when Henry was frightened by the booming thunder, before preparing several cups of hot chocolate for the two of us.

  
It's too bad that the comfort spell doesn't do a thing for its caster, because now I was worried about what made Hope's mind so uneasy in the first place. I hoped that it wasn't anything too serious, but I knew that even if I asked her about it someday, she'd downplay it, being the ever selfless hero. Not that that meant that I wasn't going to ask. No, unless she asks me not to, I would try to get to know every part of her. If it was her memories that produced her nightmares, then we'd make new ones. If it was her fears, then I'll help her get over them.

  
"Now if only my body would stop trying to shut itself down whenever you're nearby, that would be wonderful," I whispered dryly to Hope.

  
She mumbled something before turning on her side and rolling towards me. I barely had time to widen my eyes when she latched onto my arm and curled up around it.

  
"Oh boy," I whispered as my heart rate picked up once again, "This is going to be a long night."


	16. Chapter 16

A beam of sunlight caressed my face, waking me from my slumber. For a second, confusion about my location lingered, before it vanished as I felt something warm covering my right arm. I smiled, enjoying the feeling, but honestly, a little bit relieved that there wasn't more contact with my favorite (and the only) tribrid on Earth. I probably would've blushed my way into an aneurism if I woke up spooning Hope.

I closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep again. My efforts were in vain. Now that I was awake, the chance that I'd succumb to sleep once more was meager, so I let my mind drift off in a different way.

I started thinking.

One would believe that after doing it for so long, I'd grow bored of it, but I would never lose interest in speculating in what my twin sister's life is like, was like in the past, or would be in the future. Elizabeth was a blank canvas, as she could be anything or anyone in the world for all I know.

She could be a student in regular public high school like I've never gotten to be.

She could have a part-time or even a full-time job.

Maybe she learned to drive. I never tried, because I rarely had the need to leave the mansion, and if I needed to, Henry could handle himself behind the wheel.

I hope that she's happy with our mom wherever they are. And I really hope that they're safe from dad.

"Whatcha thinking about?" A low voice broke me out of my contemplations.

"What happened to your twin?" I asked impulsively.

Hope froze for a moment before propping herself up on one of her elbows.

"I, uh, never had one," She replied in a quiet voice, "The witches in my parents' employ told my father that with his genes, conceiving even one child is both scientifically and magically impossible. Having two was simply... Out of the question."

"I'm sorry," I apologized, "I shouldn't have asked."

"No harm done," The auburn-haired girl reassured me, "It's common knowledge, so I wasn't hiding it or anything. Anyone could've told you that. I'm glad that you aren't stepping on eggshells around me, Josie."

I smiled weakly before another possibly insensitive question popped up in my mind. "But if you don't have a twin, why are you here?"

I knew from Kaleb's story that not everybody in this place is the "bad" twins, but it started to look like that was just an excuse hastily thrown together to imprison supernaturals.

"I guess it's because I could choose to be evil," Hope shrugged carelessly, "My mom and Jackson always told me that my life is in my hands. Perhaps that suggestion made certain people uncomfortable."

"Jackson?" I felt something akin to worry clawing at my insides.

"Jackson Kenner is my step-dad," Hope divulged, and I felt a weight lift off my chest, "Or at least he was before I ended up in this place. I don't know anymore."

"Sorry," I murmured.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Josie," Hope laughed mirthlessly, "You didn't do anything."

"My father did," I quipped.

"And you are not your father."

I knew that logically she's right, but it did little to calm my feelings on the subject.

"You're not your dad, you hear me, Josie?" Hope repeated, still staring at my face with that intense look on hers.

"Yeah, yeah," I agreed half-heartedly, cursing myself for ever letting him become the subject of the conversation.

Hope's eyebrow quirked up, but she didn't say anything.

I was grateful for that.

And of course, at that moment, my body betrayed me. My stomach growled with the fervor of a dozen bears.

Hope smirked. "Go get some breakfast Saltzman; you sound like you need it."

"Only if you join me," My voice sounded more confident than I felt.

Her eyes widened in shock, but when I blinked, her expression was schooled again.

"It would be my pleasure, Josie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I ended up losing the first version of this chapter because I was a dummy who didn't think to hit save before rushing off to do other stuff and leaving my poor laptop alone. For anyone who cares, sorry for the long wait.


	17. Chapter 17

"Hey, can I borrow that?" I asked, staring at the several writing utensils on Hope's desk.

"Sure, knock yourself out," She nodded absentmindedly as she looked for a jacket to wear.

"Thanks," I muttered, pocketing a blue-inked pen.

Hope didn't question my actions; she just gently took my hand and led me out of the room. We turned the trip down into a semi-serious race. I lost, of course.

I won't lie and say that breakfast was pleasant, because as soothing as Hope's company was, the food was truly terrible, as usual. I tried mixing barbeque with melted cheese, and let me tell you, the result was a hot mess.

We were one of the last people to get down from the building and distracted ourselves from the burning feeling in our throats by talking about books we've both read. We only had a few books that fit into that category, but it was a nice discussion. 

After she winced for the third time, I noticed that the herbs were having much more of an effect on her than on me.

When I asked her why, she glanced at me with a sad, knowing look in her eyes and explained, "All of the foods were dozed with all three supernatural weakeners, but typically people suffer from being exposed to just one of them. I, on the other hand, can't stand lobelia, wolfsbane,  _ or _ vervain. They all hurt me, which sucks, considering I'm not even a vampire yet."

It wasn't empathy that consumed me at that moment - it was rage. Anger that fueled my imagination. A plan that started to form in my mind this morning became more tangible, started to seem less inconceivable.

"God, I'm so sorry."

"I told you already, not your fault," Hope rolled her eyes with a fond smile, and my desire to argue disappeared. Not that it was ever there in the first place.

"Yeah," I knew that she was right, but I didn't want to think about it, "Hey, I got to go. Talk to you later?"

"Whenever you want, Saltzman," She smiled broader this time, and my breath got caught in my lungs. "Just come find me."

I grinned back and made my way to my other friend's table.

"Well, somebody had a good night," Lizzie commented as soon as I sat down. "And a morning too, it seems like."

"Whatever," I muttered before turning to Raf, "You said your brother visits you on weekends?"

"Yeah," he frowned, "Lan's here every other Saturday at noon. Why?"

"Can you ask him to do something for me?"


	18. Chapter 18

"Saltzman, you got a visitor," The guard frowned, avoiding looking at me. I absentmindedly noted that her posture was furrowed with stress, and several grey hairs peeked out from beneath the beret she wore. Otherwise, she seemed young enough to be one of the kids locked up in here. Curious. 

"Thanks," I nodded and got up to follow her.

She walked away without another word. I trailed after her, walking robotically, trying to hide my excitement. She led me to the same room where I saw my dad a couple of weeks back.

Now, though, the sight that greeted me was much better for my nerves.

"Henry!" I grinned at him, excited to see him after so long.

Before this place, we haven't been apart for more than a week at a time.

"Hey, Josie," he smiled back and relaxed in his chair. "How's it going?"

"Not bad," I lied, scratching the back of my neck when he frowned. "What's new with you, bro?"

He rolled his eyes with a small grin, "You know he doesn't like it when you call me that, Jo."

"Well, daddy dearest is not here now, is he?" I laughed at his discomfort. Honestly, Henry was always much more of a daddy's boy than I ever was. He was like Luther from the Umbrella Academy. His loyalty towards that manipulative snake was entirely unwarranted.

He did love me more, though. The fact that I was about to exploit.

"Alright, sorry, Hen," I faked a smile, hoping he wouldn't notice, "You just caught me off-guard today. If I knew you were coming, I would've prepared the money or something."

"The money?" The poor boy was confused. I didn't blame him. Until Lizzie explained it to me, I was just as clueless about the procedures here.

"And a list of things that I want," I nodded sagely, "Verbally, of course, I don't have any writing utensils or paper lying around."

I cursed myself and my awkwardness when lying. Thankfully, Henry didn't seem to pick up on it.

"The things you want, right," He looked like he was about to cry for a moment, but then he sighed and schooled his expression, "They don't give you anything you want, do they?"

I bit back an instinctive 'of course not' and just shook my head.

"Anything on that list you need immediately, Jo?" He asked considerately, "I can swing by the store and come back, not money necessary."

"Nothing I can think of at the moment," I shrugged, "I'll think about it before your next visit. And when do you think will that be?"

"I don't know, sorry, Josie," he blinked, trying to remember something, "I got lessons with Mrs. Gilbert on first aid on Friday, so I kind of want to prepare for that beforehand."

I bit back a smirk. Henry always had a big crush on Stefanie Gilbert. I wonder if this was his attempt at impressing her.

"That's okay, Hen," I smiled again, "Maybe the weekend?"

"Church on Sunday."

"Saturday?" I all but leaped at my chance, "How about noon? Gives you enough time to wake up."

"Sure," He nodded, "See ya on Saturday, Josie."

"Later, Hen," I breathed out, the sound of my voice almost drowned out by the sound of my heartbeat.

He nodded one more time and left the room.

I slumped back in my seat and waited for a guard to come and escort me back to my room.


	19. Chapter 19

You know that feeling when you know that something important is about to happen, but you can't really do anything about it at the moment?

You feel anxious, and bored, and slightly out of place?

Yeah, that's how I felt for five days after Henry's visit.

When I got back to my room, I carefully etched a message on one of the dollar bills I was given by Mr. Williams. My writing was in French (both Henry and I learned it in the past, first out of curiosity considering his origins, then because we enjoyed speaking the language that nobody besides us in the house understood it), tiny letters in the middle of the paper. The note wasn't noticeable unless you inspected each bill one at a time. I hoped the guards wouldn't do that.

So I spent more and more time with my friends, trying to distract myself.

I helped Jade out at the library while she vented about her crush (she wouldn't tell me who it is, I just found out that it was a pretty powerful dark-haired witch, which wasn't saying too much as there were dozens of those around here), learned how to play Cheat with Raf's deck of cards, spent a couple of hours playing checkers with Kaleb, and just hung out with Lizzie. We never ran out of things to gossip about, whether it be, boys (and girls), celebrities, or books. Heck, Lizzie could even turn weather into an interesting subject to talk about.

And Hope...

I probably spent the most amount of time with Hope.

We didn't even need to talk most of the time. With my permission, Hope focused on making my portrait, while I read books or listened to music in her room. She wouldn't let me look at it until it was done, which was a bit annoying, but I got the feeling that Hope genuinely cared about that, so I didn't push too much.

"What would you do if you ever got out of here?" I asked one day as she was finishing putting away her art supplies.

"I..." She bit her lip, deep in thought, "I think I'd go straight to my family if I knew where they were. They're probably still at New Orleans, but you never know, you know?"

I smiled as she rambled a bit. It was a cute habit.

"Sure," I grinned at her, "And after you find them, what would you do in New Orleans?"

"Probably get some decent food," Hope shrugged.

"Anything in particular?"

"No, a bit of everything," She smiled, "My father used to casually order feasts for mealtimes. I miss having so many choices to make from different foods all over the world. Beignets, pecking duck, dim sum, anything you could possibly want."

"Sounds amazing," Personally, I never tried any of the things she mentioned, and she must've seen that on my expression.

"I'll find you all of them," Hope promised and her smile dimmed, "If we ever get out of here, that is."

"We will," I breathed out, hoping that against all odds my pan would succeed.

She gave me an odd little smile and dropped the subject.

I closed my eyes, imagining just doing what I want again, without supervision, restrictions, schedules made for me.

I wondered how it must've been for Hope, who's been here for years before I came along.

When I opened my eyes, I was determined to execute my plan without any mistakes, if not for me, then for the amazing girl that dared to care for me despite my father's actions. Me? I could spend the rest of my life in this place. My dad didn't really care about me. My twin was somewhere out there in the world. Henry would adjust to not having me around.

Hope though? You could see plain as day that the girl longed for her family. The way she talked about her parents, aunts, and uncles... She missed them, loved them, oh so much. And they probably missed and loved her back. Hope _needed_ to get back to them.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's a couple of lines about the Bible that might be upsetting to some religious readers. I just want to say that it's not meant to be, people are free to believe whatever they want to believe.

"How could you let them do this to him?" An aggravated shout sounded from the other side of the meeting room's door. I held back my smile.

"Excuse me, miss," The guard next to me pushed me aside gently, preparing to enter the room.

I smiled, as innocently as I could manage, "Of course, sir. But, uh, can I go see Henry? I really need him to get some things for me and to pay for them too..." I held up a stack of green paper in my hands. 

There was nothing tying it together, nothing unusual about the outside bills.

Nothing suspicious, or at least I hoped so.

"Sure," He turned the doorknob and strode into the room.

I followed him. He marched towards the table at which Rafael sat. Another guard stood nearby, and finally, the person who must be Rafael's brother was yelling at the poor guy. I bypassed that table and headed to the one right by it, where my childhood friend sat.

"Seriously, how flimsy is your security?" The curly-haired kid's voice was quieter now, probably because there was less of a chance of them busting me now. "Or are you just _petty_ enough to let him get beat up?"

"Hey Henry," I sat down and immediately slid the stack of bills into the small space where the sheet of glass met the table.

He slowly took them before taking off his backpack and stuffing the money there. He pulled a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. "Hey, Jo."

"Right to that then? Not going to tell me about your week?" I smiled weakly and mentally prepared the fake list of items I prepared that'd tip him off that something was wrong.

"It was good," His face lightened, and I was happy for him, "I got CPR just right yesterday."

"That's great," I grinned. "Not a single unusual thing happened to me yesterday. I couldn't find any interesting books in the library to read. Well, there was one, but it was all ripped up. Hey, could you get that one for me?"

"Of course," He nodded seriously and took the pencil into his hand. "What's it called?"

"Sincerely, by F. S. Yousaf."

This might not seem suspicious to any spectators, but if Henry ever opens the book, then he'll see that's it poetry. And if there is one genre of literature I tend to avoid, it's poetry. While I love a good riddle as much as anybody, too many possible interpretations of the text, mixed with rhymes... Not my thing. And Hen knows that.

"Sincerely," Henry muttered as he jotted the words down. "Yousaf. Got it. Any other books?"

"I heard the Great Gatsby is a great read," My lips twitched up, and I watched carefully for his reaction.

I was not disappointed. His eyes narrowed, but otherwise, he didn't move. That was because we both read the Great Gatsby. It was my favorite book for a while too.

"Got it," The werewolf slowly nodded and wrote down Fitzgerald's name with unreadable eyes. "Anything else?"

"The Bible, I suppose, never harmful to have one on hand."

His left fist clenched. He knew that I refused to touch that book after reading that one line as a kid:

_"You shall not permit a sorceress to live."_

Now, without any context, how does that sound to a tiny little siphoner witch? And that was way, way before I even _started_ thinking about my sexuality...

So, suffice to say I never fully read the Bible.

"All right," Henry looked terse and slightly uncomfortable. I decided to let him relax. 

"Well, that's it for books. Some bigger towels would be nice, and if you could get me an electric blanket, I would be forever grateful."

"Yeah, okay, I'll go get that stuff," He got up from the table, and hurriedly made his way towards the door, "Bye Josie." 

"See you later Hen."


	21. Chapter 21

Henry didn't show up next week. Or the week after that.

I didn't know what to think, but I hoped for the best.

On the sixteenth day after that Saturday when he visited, something finally, _finally_ happened.

The building shook as if affected by an earthquake. I lived all my life in Mystic Falls and never felt an earthquake before, which made me doubt that this was a natural one. Nevertheless, paint fell from the ceiling, and one of the books I borrowed from the library vibrated to the edge of my desk. I grabbed and gently tossed it onto my bed before darting out of the room.

"Josie!" Lizzie and Hope were in the hall, the former leaning on the wall to keep her balance. "Do you know what's going on?"

"I..." I didn't know how to answer Hope's question. I could guess, but I was as unsure of the situation as they were. "...have my suspicions."

Hope frowned at my non-answer, but she didn't question me further, just reached for my hand. I willingly _handed_ it over.

Yes, okay, mental eye-roll, that was lame.

At that moment, three guards burst into the corridor from the door that led to the stairs. Lizzie flattened herself against the wall. I froze.

"Ms. Mikaelson!" One of them trained his gun on Hope, while the others kept theirs in their holsters, but with their hands on them, ready to draw the pistols at the first sign of trouble. "Raise your hands above your head and cease all destructive actions at once!"

"She's not doing anything!" I tried not to yell to deescalate the situation, but I failed miserably.

Hope squeezed my hands.

"Sorry not sorry, I don't have enough patience to deal with this today," Lizzie grumbled before her hands began to glow red, _"Ventus! Ad somnum!"_

All three guards were picked up and thrown into a wall by an invisible wind, falling asleep immediately afterward when it because clear that none of them were knocked out by the impact.

I stared at Lizzie as pieces of the puzzle of our lives slowly came together in my head.

Elizabeth, the baby with golden hair that was taken mere hours after my birth...

Lizzie, a teenage girl with stormy blue eyes and a mysterious backstory, always there for me...

Except, she couldn't have known that she was my sister. She would've told me if she did. Or one of our friends would have. She doesn't keep anything from Raf. Kaleb maybe, but not her boyfriend.

So she doesn't know. My heart leaped to my throat, and I didn't know why. This was the moment I was waiting for all my life. I was always so eager to daydream about the day it would happen, but now that it finally did, I had no clue what to do.

"So, are we just going to stand here or what?" Eliz- Lizzie asked before gesturing to the guards, "More of these guys will show up soon, you know. What's our plan of action, oh the all-powerful tribrid?"

I turned to Hope mindlessly, still shocked.

Her expression must've mirrored mine. She must've pieced together what happened just as I did. Hope shook her head slowly.

"I think you two need to talk," A smile slowly broke out on her face, and my heartbeat started pounding in my ears, "I'll stand guard, don't worry."

Hope squeezed my hand one last time before she headed to the stairs.

Lizzie blinked in confusion. "I wonder what that was all about."

"I..." I fought the urge to start laughing hysterically. I had a feeling that it wasn't a time for a breakdown. "I don't know how to say this."

"Say what?" Lizzie walked towards me until she was right before me, just two steps away. My twin was right in front of me. "Jo, what's going on?"

"From what I know, the best way to break any kinds of news is like ripping off a Band-Aid. Quick and painless." I started rambling. Oh, this was not good. Not the time, Josie, so not the time. "I might be wrong, but I don't think I am-"

"Josie, what-"

"Lizzie, I think you are my twin."


	22. Chapter 22

Lizzie stared blankly at me for a moment, before her expression changed into one of simultaneous amazement and hope.

"How..." Her voice was shaky, but her eyes highlighted her desire to continue with this conversation. I was glad. "How do you figure that, Josie?"

Like she did earlier, I leaned against the wall, and let the magic flow into me, filling me with strength and energy I didn't know I needed.

Lizzie, my twin, stared at my hands as though she has never seen anything like them ever before. She did though when she siphoned magic herself.

A single tear slid down her cheek.

I instinctively reached out but stopped myself before making contact. Sure, we were friends, possibly, not probably family, but at the moment none of that mattered. Everything she knew about me had changed in an instant. I didn't want to make everything worse.

As if reading my thoughts, Lizzie gave a choked laugh and flung herself at me, trapping me in a bear hug.

"Where have you been all my life?" There was no anger in her voice, just burning curiosity.

"Why, just down the road," My tone was off. Not quite sarcastic, but rather shocked and bitter at the cards has dealt us, separated by just a few miles, just a few minutes, for years. But I had no right to be mad at the universe, not when it has given me a girl who has been a sister to me even before I knew that she was one biologically, a brother who would do anything for me, and Hope (as both a feeling and a person), along with many other people and things that I was so thankful for.

"Figures," Lizzie murmured into my shoulder.

I heard a gentle pitter-patter of footsteps and her voice before I saw Hope. "Hey girls, sorry for the interruption, but, uh, I saw more guards heading here from the window, so..."

"Allow me to take care of them, love," Another voice with a noticeable British accent has joined the conversation, and I spun around to see the newcomer.

She was a beautiful woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in gray skinny jeans, a light blue top and a black leather jacket, and shoes from a brand that I probably wouldn't be able to pronounce.

"Auntie Bex!" Hope lit up like a Christmas tree on New Year's Eve.

"Long time no see, jailbird," The woman who I guessed was Hope's aunt Rebekah grinned back at her before glancing at the staircase, "Alright, I'll take care of the guards, but while they are distracted, lead your friends down to the administrative building, will you darling?"

"I can help you," Hope pouted.

"Please, there are only seven of them," If any other person said that I would've called them delusional or at least cocky, but I had no doubt that this vampire could easily take the guards down herself, "Your uncle Kol and aunt Freya are going to be waiting for you there."

"Fine," Hope walked rigidly over to stand to me and my _twin_.

I still couldn't believe I had a twin. I couldn't fight a smile as it overtook my face.

Then Hope took my hand, and it only got bigger.

"Huh," Rebekah's eyes glimmered as she took in this new development, "Oh, Klaus is going to have a field day with this one."

As Hope blushed and tried to come up with a comeback, I raised an eyebrow. "Why? Because I can siphon magic and all three parts of Hope are saturated with it? Because I'm Alaric Saltzman's daughter? Or because he liked the woman who had a big role in raising me?"

I should've added a question about me being a girl too, but I forgot about it in the heat of the moment.

...Aaaand I forgot I was talking to an ancient vampire who can take care of me as fast, if not as fast as she can take care of seven guards heading this way. Maybe I should've kept my mouth shut.

But she just laughed. "Oh, I like this one. Are you going to become my niece-in-law?"

 _Is that a thing?_ was my first thought.

As Hope let out an indignant "Aunt Bex!", her face resembling a tomato, I blushed a little bit myself.

"Did you just ask me if I will marry Hope..." I trailed off, "On her behalf?"

"Well somebody had to do it!" She winked before walking over to a window and effortlessly pulling off a metal bar. The skin on her hands sizzled, but she didn't seem to notice or care.

" _Nettoyer timoun sa yo."_ I murmured, cleansing the bar of magic, and temporarily incapacitating the vervain on it.

"Thank you, darling," The vampire nodded in my direction.

The door burst open and the guards started pooling into the hallway.

"That would be your cue to go, girls," Rebekah said with a slightly louder voice, before lunging at them.


	23. Chapter 23

To be perfectly honest, the next couple of hours were a blur. I barely remember them.

There was a large-scale fight in the courtyard when we got there, and I think Jade helped us get to the building where Rebekah told us to go go. There we met a light brown-haired man who had mischief in his eyes as he danced around his enemies, taking them out with barely any effort. After incapacitating them in surprisingly brutal ways, he led us to the woman who caused the earthquake.

The honey blonde witch was as formidable as he was, with magic radiating off of her in a way that reminded me of Hope.

Freya's spell allowed her to cause a distraction and keep an eye out for her family and hostiles. Her connection with the earth as she chanted the spell cause explosions akin to those produced by landmines even when there were no explosives in the area. It was pretty impressive when she disabled three guards at the same time this way.

I thought they'd leave once they got Hope, but that did not happen. We, along with many other young supernaturals who lived in the facility were directed outside by Hope's mother, who, after a hug with her daughter, dashed to help Henry fought on their side. And the Mikaelsons fought until there were no guards left standing and the building was left to the ground.

"We don't have enough cars out here," One of them, the one in the black suit with a blood-red tie, said at one point.

"I'll arrange for some to get here," Another one, a tall man with a darker skin tone than the rest of them, nodded and left to make a phone call.

Somehow, he managed to get enough cars into the parking lot that anyone who wanted to come with them to New Orleans and then figure out what to do from there could do so.

I was the first to agree to do so. Lizzie settled in the backseat of a Ford Mustang beside me as soon as I did. With Lizzie on one side and Hope on the other, I was content to drift off into the dream world as Hope's father maneuvered the car out of the parking lot. The low tones of the tribrid's conversation with her mother, who was in the front seat, were actually very soothing.

Lizzie woke me up when we made a pit stop in Mississippi, fueled up, and had lunch in a family-owned restaurant near the highway. Food without harmful herbs lacing it never tasted so good. From what my twin told me, it was an exhausting ride, but the vampires driving the cars didn't get too tired and when they did, they let their carmates take over.

"Thank you for being here, Josie," Hope told me after I finished my fries and chucked the carton at the trash bin. It actually went in!

"Thank Lizzie, without her, I'd probably still be sleeping," I joked quietly.

"Not what I meant," She murmured in the same volume.

I didn't know what to say, so I just put my hand on the crook of her elbow and sipped on my chocolate milkshake.

I needed to get over that, the way Hope makes me speechless oh so often.

At least Lizzie seemed to think so. An unforeseen effect of us figuring out who we were to each other was us being so in tune, that I could swear I could tell what she's feeling.

"You can thank me with another iced coffee, Mikaelson," Lizzie declared with a knowing smile.

"Sure," Hope shrugged before standing up and heading to the counter.

As soon as she was deemed out of the earshot, my sister turned to me with a predatory gleam in her eyes, "Okay, Jo, spill. What's going on with you and Hope?"

"Something," I focused on my milkshake, a small part of me hoping that I'd get a brain-freeze and avoid this conversation.

"And that thing is...?"

"Happening," I blinked innocently.

Lizzie groaned dramatically, "Ugh, I hate you."

"No, you don't," I smirked.

"No, I don't," She sighed in agreement.

I glanced over to see that Hope seemed to have started a conversation with a cashier.

"Don't pout, she'll come back soon, dear sister," Lizzie laughed before dipping one of her fries in my milkshake and tossing it into her mouth.

"Why would you do that?" My nose scrunched up in disgust.

"Don't knock it till you try it," She shrugged.

"No thanks,"

At that moment, Hope reached us with Lizzie's coffee in a to-go cup. "You guys ready to leave? My parents want to reach Louisiana before midnight."

I looked at Lizzie. Lizzie looked at me.

"Sure," My twin declared. "Let's get going, I can't wait to see New Orleans."


End file.
